Growing up in Lebanon, Ardem Patapoutian did not know any scientists and never thought about pursuing science as a career. At 18, he left his parents and friends, and with $2,000 in his account, emigrated to the United States. His first year was tough, but he enrolled at UCLA, graduating in 1990 with a BS in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. His parents had wanted a doctor in the family, but he had fallen in love with molecular biology.
Last year, Patapoutian shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work discovering the receptors for touch and pain.
“I think those experiences of both growing up in war-torn Lebanon as well as the difficulty of leaving everything and coming has not just toughened me up, but I’ve appreciated everything I have more because I remember those days and that kind of gives me some inspiration to realize how privileged we are,” he said.
Patapoutian is professor of neuroscience at the Scripps Research Institute and principal investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He sees his research as an area ripe for further discoveries, with great potential for helping people who are struggling with chronic pain or other medical issues.
Patapoutian said he found his tribe among scientists but has been increasingly embracing his Armenian heritage.
“I have a very mixed past and I am reconnecting to some of this past as well as realizing that most and foremost, we’re humans,” he said. “Human rights and human equality should be at the forefront.”
https://patapoutianlab.org/
